Philadelphia Eagles hire Bill Musgrave as quarterbacks coach

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles announced the hiring of Bill Musgrave as their quarterbacks coach and promoted another Oregon alum, Michael Clay, from quality control to assistant defensive line coach.

Musgrave quarterbacked Oregon before Chip Kelly knew Eugene was a town in the Northwest. It’s Musgrave’s second stint with the Eagles, who he called plays for in the middle of the tumultuous 1998 season, the last for then head coach Ray Rhodes. With a dearth of talent and Bobby Hoying, Ty Detmer and Rodney Peete taking turns at quarterback, Musgrave and the Eagles went 2-6 and scored 82 points in that stretch en route to 3-13.

Musgrave replaces Bill Lazor, who took a job as offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins. Lazor helped mold Nick Foles into the offensive Most Valuable Player at the Pro Bowl.

Musgrave, 46, was a fourth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1991 and played six seasons as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos ending in 1995. He’s been an assistant for 15 years, the last three calling the plays as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings cleaned house the day after the season ending as they canned Musgrave along with head coach Leslie Frazier.

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Musgrave is a student of the West Coast offense who took over the play-calling duties from then-offensive coordinator Dane Bible after joining the Eagles in 1998. The Eagles finished 3-13.

Musgrave has coached for some struggling teams, the job stops resulting in a collective 108-131-1 (.452) overall record and 2-4 in the playoffs.

From 2008-10, Musgrave helped the Atlanta Falcons go 33-15 and make two playoff appearances in three seasons. The Falcons went 13-3 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs after Musgrave was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator in 2010.

Musgrave choreographed the Vikings’ 48-30 victory over the Eagles at the Metrodome in Week 15. The Vikings were without their top two running backs including Adrian Peterson, their best player.

Quarterback Matt Cassel threw for 382 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings, who were greatly aided by favorable field position as the Eagles kicked off short instead of kicking the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson.